Some people think it's poor form to speak ill of the dead. Fabio isn't one of them.
The Italian model recently spoke to the People in the '90s podcast about his modeling career, recalling how he landed one of the biggest ad campaigns of the time. "The Versace campaign was extremely successful at that time," Fabio claimed, "because it was the biggest contract a model—not just a male model, a model—ever got. So I got a contract even bigger than Cindy Crawford and the rest of the female models."
According to Fabio, that contract promised him millions of dollars, with the opportunity to earn more depending on the success of the Versace Mediterraneum fragrance, which was all but guaranteed with his face plastered across billboards. He recalled, "When I started advertising, all of a sudden it became one of the best colognes out there. I was doing appearances: 15,000, 18,000, 20,000 people were showing up outside of Saks Fifth Avenue."
When it came time to cash in on his efforts, however, the 62-year-old model didn't receive the full amount he expected. Fabio alleged that Gianni Versace owed him "big time," estimating he was shorted "a million."
"You know, unfortunately Versace wasn't a very honest man, God bless his soul, but the truth is the truth," Fabio stated. "He wasn't a very honest person."
E! News reached out to the Versace estate for comment.
In 1997, Gianni was shot and killed outside his Miami mansion by Andrew Cunanan, who committed suicide eight days after the murder. According to reports, Andrew was obsessed with the fashion designer.
This July marked 24 years since Gianni's death, an occasion sorrowfully remembered by numerous members of the modeling industry, including Naomi Campbell. The icon shared a rare photo of her daughter in a Versace onesie, writing on Instagram, "I love you Gianni Versace."
While Gianni is no longer with us, his brand remains successful and continues to impact the fashion world. Most recently, his sister Donatella Versace brought back some of Gianni's signature iconic prints for the label's Spring 2018 collection. At the time, she told Vogue that she waited 20 years to make a collection in his honor, because "it was too painful to think about it before."